Reborn Blossom
by S. T. Nickolian
Summary: Sasuke and Naruto are exiled from the village, leaving Sakura behind. On her way back, she is 'kidnapped' by Akatsuki. Can things get any worse? Of course. No real pairing, unfortunately.


Reborn Blossom

Disclaimer: The plot, (however bad it may be) is the only thing I own.

"The stars are really pretty tonight." Sakura sighed as she leaned back against the cherry tree, now bare in the winter. Her hair tossed a little in the wind as snow blew across the ground lightly. She sat in the snow, just staring up at the sky.

She was _supposed_ to be going back to Konoha, but she was taking her time in doing it. The village, well, any village now, felt… empty without her two favorite ninja. Uchiha Sasuke: traitor to Orochimaru, recently liberated then exiled. Uzumaki Naruto: Kyuubi vessel, best friend to Sasuke, exiled as a sympathizer to traitors, (the council really just wanted him gone, they just happened to finally have an excuse.) Anyone who had truly known Naruto had been furious when the council announced this; the Rookie 9, all three of his former teachers, Team Gai, and Tsunade. The Hokage had, in a fit of rage at the council, proclaimed that once someone was found to be worthy of Hokage, she was stepping down to go after her 'little brother,' with Jiraiya and the others no doubt following close behind.

Sakura sighed again. She felt two strong chakres coming closer and lazily turned her head in that direction. "Isn't that the Konoha kunoichi that the Kyuubi favors?" The deep, gravelly voice brought a faint smirk to her face as she leaned back again. "I sa tare her now and draw the Kyuubi to us."

Sakura chuckled slightly. "I'm afraid that won't work. Neither Naruto nor Sasuke have been heard from in over three years. Seven months, twelve days, and around nine hours over three years actually." Her sadness seeped into her voice.

Kisame quieted, never having been in the presence of an upset kunoichi before; a kunoichi in physical pain, of course, (mostly caused by him,) but not this. His partner however strode forward and stood in front of her. Blood red Sharingan gazed down at her coldly. "You will not attempt to fight us?" He had an emotionless voice, almost like his brother's.

"Why bother? I'll just end up getting beaten, and badly at that." She relaxed against the tree, watching the stars again. "Besides, if you were going to kill me, I think you would have done so by now."

Itachi watched the kunoichi in front of him; Sakura, he believed, the Hokage's apprentice who had nearly passed her teacher in medical technique. Now only would she be of use to them that way, but, if the Kyuubi was ever found, she would be the perfect bait.

"You will come with, and we will not hold back if you try to resist." She jerked her head to look at him when she heard the resolve in his voice.

"Nani?" He just stared down at her. "D-demo… I know I'm not on good with Konoha right now, but-" She was cut off as Itachi reached down and dragged her to her feet by the arm.

"Then there shouldn't be a problem." He gave her a look that held the threat of the mangekyou. She looked away and bit her lip, knowing that she wouldn't be able to fight either of them and win. "Tim is of the essence, Sakura-chan."

She scowled, not liking how familiarly he addressed her. She couldn't fight them, so she might as well save her strength for when she might need it. Sighing, she picked up a small bag by the tree. "Lead the way, Itachi-kun." She knew she gave her a light glare but shrugged it off; it was like Sasuke's glares, after all.

The Uchiha nodded once and began walking away, Sakura following and Kisame bringing up the rear. She looked back in the direction of her so-called home one last time before sighing again and following her love's brother obediently, for now.

* * *

"Time to wake up, kunoichi." Sakura groaned and buried her head under her pillow, determined to ignore the blue-skinned Akatsuki member. She heard him sigh then leave and smirked triumphantly. She became comfortable again and tried to fall back to sleep. Less then two minutes later, however, she tensed as she felt a hand running through her hair. _Damn; I didn't sense or hear him come in._

"You need to wake up, Sakura-chan." Itachi stood over her bed, petting her now longer hair lightly. "We have a mission today." She flinched slightly and rolled over on her side so she could watch him. She stared up at him, almost seeing his brother's image instead of him for a moment. He was still stroking her hair as if she were a pet, and, now that she though about it, that's pretty much what she was, of course she had no say in the matter.

Sighing, she stood from her bed and walked over to the bathroom that was connected to her 'cell.' She paused and looked over her shoulder when he didn't leave. "Is there something else you need?" She had, for three months, done everything they had asked, even for some of the other Akatsuki, if Itachi allowed, such as Deidara, the friendly but deadly missing-nin from Stone. She did everything, not out of fear, but because she knew they could make things a LOT worse, and the need to survive to see her two best friends.

Itachi stood still, watching her. She shrugged and continued on her way. She had been worried that she would be labeled a missing-nin, but Itachi took care of that by taking her shirt sleeve and soaking it with the blood form a cut he had given her then sent it to Tsunade. Now, she was sure that everyone was looking for her, (Tsunade and Kakashi were probably the worst off,) and, if they were still alive and the news had reached them, Sasuke and Naruto were probably furious and worried, well, more Naruto than Sasuke.

She closed the door to put a barrier between herself and the missing-nin. She'd admit it, (only to herself though,) he scared her, but it was mostly because she saw in him what Sasuke could have become. The kunoichi looked up at the ceiling, though she knew she wouldn't see anything but plaster. _I'm glad Sasuke and Naruto have each other to count one… please be safe you two._

She came back out after five minutes, finding Itachi in the same spot as she left him. He nodded once and turned to leave. Sakura yawned as she followed and winced as she walked into the light. Kisame looked up and grinned, all of his pointed teeth glinting. "Well, it's about time, kunoichi."

Sakura just gave him a sleepy smile. "What are we doing today?" Kisame explained the short mission, and got ready to leave.

"Sakura-chan and I will be going on our own; you will remain here, Kisame." Itachi's partner stopped short and shot a worried glance to the frozen girl before nodding reluctantly. Itachi looked to her, "Come."

Sakura nodded and grabbed her cloak; it was designed the same way as the Akatsuki's, without the red clouds. The kunoichi followed him out of their current hideout, slightly nervous about going with the Uchiha alone; she couldn't read or predict him, while she could do that with all of the others.

The kunoichi glanced back to see Deidara looking worriedly out the window. Sakura gave him a short, reassuring smile and watched as he smiled back then disappeared. Itachi called her again. "Hai!" She caught up to him easily, wishing she could go back and talk with Deidara or train rather than this. _This isn't going to go well._

* * *

The mission was completed fairly easily, and Sakura was healing the single, minor scratch that he managed to get on his face. "How you managed to get this, I'll never know; those guys were weak." Itachi remained emotionless as he stood up. Sakura smirked slightly and shook her head, standing up as well. They began to walk away before…

"Sakura-chan!"

Said kunoichi whirled around at the voice she hadn't heard in almost four years. She saw a smiling blonde in orange with a smirking Uchiha beside him. Just as she smiled back, ready to run into their arms again, a sharp pain shot through her, starting from the base of her neck. She cursed inwardly. _I can't believe I forgot about him._ The last thing she saw were the shocked, angry, and worried faces of her former teammates as she felt arms wrap around her waist.

* * *

Sakura blinked in the darkness. _What happened?_ She sat up slowly as she held her head as she looked around, pushing the blanket off her legs. She was back in her room at Akatsuki. _How did I get here?_

The memories or what happened raced through her mind on fast forward. She shot up from the bed and race to the door, eyes wide and hope flaming in them. She reached to open the door but…

It was locked.

Shock flowed through her. They had never, _ever_ locked her door before, not even when she first came here. Despair welled up in her heart as she leaned her forehead against the door and tears came to her eyes. Her chance to see her best friends for the first time in years was taken from her.

"Are you sure it was a good idea to lock her door? Sakura-chan is going to be really upset… yeah." Deidara's voice drifted to her through the door. Lifting her head in a slight daze, she listened for the answer.

"That why Itachi did it." Kisame's coarse voice came through the door; it sounded almost sympathetic. "If it wasn't, she would probably bolt and try to find her old teammates again."

That was true; she would, after all, she hadn't seen them in nearly four years; why wouldn't she? "Yeah, but… she's going to be giving Itachi-san the cold shoulder… yeah."

"You two should be quieter; Sakura-chan is awake." She immediately backed away from the door at _his_ voice and considered whether or not she should pretend to still be asleep or not.

She didn't get the chance as Itachi walked into the room. The other two followed shortly after. Kisame looked carefully indifferent, while Deidara gave her a sympathetic smile, one that was wiped from his face by Itachi's glare. Sakura felt her heart drop once more, but she quickly put on an emotionless mask that mirrored Itachi's. "Is there anything you three need?"

She watched Deidara and Kisame flinch at her tone guiltily, but she was standing in front of Itachi, so she wasn't about to apologize. She and the Uchiha stared at each other indifferently before he signaled for the other two to leave. They hesitated for a moment then did as he said, albeit reluctantly.

Once they heard the soft click of the door, Itachi disappeared. The kunoichi tensed, but wasn't prepared for him to appear in front of her and grip her chin. What he did next shocked her out of her indifference. His lips were placed firmly on hers and his arms snaked around her waist, holding her in place.

She stood stock still as he gently pulled away. "Remember, Sakura-chan, you belong to me now." Then he was gone, the door was closed and locked, again.

Sakura fell to her knees, no longer able to stay standing now that her support was gone. _Sasuke-kun, Naruto… I'm so sorry._

Her sobs reached across the door to Deidara and Kisame. They flinched at the sound and looked to Itachi as he exited the room, upset that he had hurt her, but they were smart enough to not say anything. They had heard what he said, and knew that he would fight anyone who suggested otherwise.

* * *

Sakura sat at her window, smiling softly at the scenery. Naruto was sitting at her feet with his back leaning against her legs, and Sasuke was behind her, letting her to lean against him. They were all watching the cherry blossom petals fall to the ground, feeling a sense of peace for the first time in a long while, now that they were reunited. Her former teammates had come to Akatsuki, meaning to rescue her, but the leader ended up making them a deal: they join Akatsuki, and Itachi 'shares' her with them.

That had been around two months ago, and Sakura was still an unofficial member of the organization. She would go on missions with Naruto and Sasuke, Itachi and Kisame, and, occasionally, Deidara and Sasori. The most amazing thing that happened was that Itachi and Sasuke were, slowly, rebuilding the bond they had had before the massacre.

All three turned their head and smiled as Itachi came into the room. He nodded with his indifferent mask in place, but you could see that his eyes were smiling. He walked over and stood beside Sakura with his arm around her shoulders.

They sat there for a long time, enjoying each others' company and thinking. Sakura suddenly smiled a little ironically. _Six months ago, I was completely different, lost and depressed, and not, it seems almost like I've been reborn to the state I was back before the Chuunin exams, and it's all thanks to my boys._ She ruffled the blonde's hair, earning a faint protest, placed a hand over Itachi's, and leaned back into Sasuke a little more. _I'm not letting them go this time.  
_

* * *

AN: Wow… This has got to be one of the worst things I've written, at least, I think so. Anyway, I love the ItaSaku pairing, and I wanted to write one, no matter how bad it was, though it doesn't exactly seem like an ItaSaku in the end, does it? Hmm… Thanks for reading, and please review to tell me how to make it better! 


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